Apparatus for locating a stolen electronic device using electronic mail

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for locating a stolen computer or other electrical device is implemented by special programming stored in a program storage device. When an e-mail is being sent from the stolen electronic device, the sender address is compared to an owner address. If the sender address does not match the owner address, the e-mail is redirected or copied to e.g. a law-enforcement agency or a stolen-computer registry address.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. 08/877,082, filed on Jun. 17, 1997 (pending) and entitled "Methodfor Locating a Stolen Electronic Device Using Electronic Mail," theentire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for locatingstolen property, and more particularly to locating a stolen electronicdevice, such as a computer, using electronic mail.

2. Description of Related Art

Personal computers have become increasingly compact and portable and,thus, now commonly accompany business travelers into a variety ofunprotected, public places. As a result, these items have become afavorite target for thieves. Portable computers, such as notebook andlaptop computers, are commonly stolen in public places such as airports.

Many computers, especially portable computers, are equipped with modemsfor remote communication. These modems allow the user access to servicessuch as remote connections to office networks and the Internet. Inaddition, the modems allow the user to transmit and receive facsimilesand electronic mail messages (e-mail).

E-mail Format

An e-mail typically has at least three components, a sender address, arecipient address, and message data. An Internet mail address has twoparts, separated by an "at" sign (@). A sample mail address is:

name@domain

The "name" portion of the address is a string of characters, typicallyletters and/or numbers that represent the person sending or receivingthe e-mail. The name may be a portion of the user's name or an alias forthat person. The "domain" portion represents the destination ororigination of the e-mail, which is typically a host service. The domainname generally represents the server where the individual referenced bythe "name" portion receives or sends e-mail. The domain name commonlytakes the form of "server.com" or "server.org", where ".com" representsa commercial entity, and ".org" represents an organization. Thus, ane-mail address of "jsmith@mailserver.org", may represent a user JohnSmith who receives e-mail at the domain of mailserver.org. Multiplerecipient addresses usually may be specified in a single e-mail.

The message data represents the section of the e-mail that containsinformation that the sender wants to convey to the recipient such as atext message, encoded files, attached files, or the like.

Messaging Protocol for E-mail

There are a number of different messaging protocols for transmittinge-mail like those described above either in use or being proposed.Examples of messaging protocols are Simple Mail Transfer Protocol(SMTP), Extended Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (ESMTP), Post OfficeProtocol (POP), and Unified Message Protocol (UMP). For illustrativepurposes, this specification will describe the use of SMTP protocol.However, it is to be understood that the invention may be implementedusing any messaging protocol that is now known or in the future maybecome known in the art.

When sending an e-mail, a computer transmits the e-mail through a modemusing, e.g., SMTP protocol. EUDORA™ sold by Qualcomm, Inc. of San Diego,Calif. is an example of an application program that sends e-mails inSMTP format.

Systems to Track Stolen Computers

At least one known computer tracking system for locating stolencomputers exists. A user desiring to use this system first installs asoftware program on his computer. The software program instructs thecomputer to call a third party monitoring service at regular intervals.When the computer calls the monitoring service, the computer establishesa data link and transmits data to the monitoring service that identifiesthe computer. When the monitoring service receives a call from theuser's computer, the monitoring service is able to determine thelocation of the computer by utilizing Caller ID. The location of thecomputer may then be forwarded to a law enforcement agency so that theymay retrieve the computer. However, such a tracking system is notoptimal because it requires a third party monitoring service. Thismonitoring service charges a fee for monitoring. In addition, the systemis not optimal because the system incurs long distance charges thatresult from the periodic phone calls to the monitoring service. (Even if1-800 numbers are used, the charges are still indirectly paid by a usersubscribing to the monitoring service). The presence of such longdistance phone charges may also alert a thief to the monitoring, thusreducing the effectiveness of the tracking system.

Thus, there is a need for a more optimal method of locating a stolencomputer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the invention is an electrical device including aprocessor adapted to execute program instructions and a program storagedevice. The program storage device contains program instructions thatwhen executed identify that an e-mail is being sent from the electronicdevice. Next, a sender address is compared to an owner address. If thesender address does not match the owner address, the e-mail isredirected. In some embodiments, the electronic device is a computer. Inother embodiments, the electronic device is a modem.

A second embodiment of the invention is a program storage device encodedwith instructions that when executed perform a method for locating anelectronic device. The method includes identifying that an e-mail isbeing sent from the electronic device. Next, the sender address iscompared to an owner address. If the sender address does not match theowner address, the e-mail is redirected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a messaging system used to transmit electronicmessages, such as may be used to implement some embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified block diagram of the computer and modemof FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram for a method to locate a stolen computer systemusing electronic mail.

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of an alternative embodiment of thecomputer and modem of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Description of the First Embodiment

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the invention. This embodiment includesan electronic device that is capable of sending e-mails, which in theparticular embodiment disclosed is a personal computer 100. In addition,the embodiment of FIG. 1 includes a modem 110, a message server 120,destination servers 130, a redirected server 140, a recipient computer150, and a second modem 160.

Electronic Device

The invention will be described in reference to a personal computer 100as the electronic device. However, the invention is applicable to anyelectronic device capable of sending e-mails. Other electronicequipment, such as satellite receivers, are currently capable of sendingand receiving e-mail. As the integration of multimedia devicesprogresses, it is contemplated that devices such as televisions,telephones, and other media devices will have e-mail capabilities, andthus they will also be capable of being tracked through e-mail if stolenin accordance with the present invention. Hence, the term "electronicdevice" as used herein shall be broadly construed to encompass anyelectronic device capable of sending e-mail.

As shown in FIG. 1, the computer 100 is conventionally coupled to themodem 110 and is capable of sending e-mails through the modem.

A simplified block diagram of the computer 100 as conventionally coupledto the modem 110 is shown in FIG. 2. The representation of the computer100 is for illustrative purposes and not to be regarded as limiting theapplication of the invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the computer 100contains a microprocessor 200 for executing program instructions. Themicroprocessor 200 is connected to a system bus 210 for sending andreceiving data. Other devices that communicate with the microprocessor200 may also be connected to an I/O bus 220. An I/O bridge 230 isconnected between the system bus 210 and an I/O bus 220. A modem 110 isconnected to the computer 100 through a data port 240. The data port 240is commonly referred to as a communications port, COM port, serial port,or universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART).

Modem

The modem 110 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a conventional modem. Modems arewell known in the art. Many computers are equipped with modems forremote communication. These modems may be internal or external modems.As shown in FIG. 1, the modem 110 in one particular embodiment iscoupled to the computer 100 and also to a message server 120.

Method of Operation of the First Embodiment

Referring to FIG. 3, a flow chart for one embodiment of a method oflocating a stolen electronic device, such as the computer 100 inaccordance with the present invention is shown. The method may beimplemented by a location tracking program 300 that is conventionallyexecuted on the computer 100. If the computer 100 is stolen, it isconceivable that the thief will eventually use the computer to send ane-mail. The thief will most likely change the sender address used by themail application program to reflect his own address, hereinafterreferred to as the thief address.

As shown in block 310, the owner's electronic mail address is firstconventionally stored in the computer 100. This may, in someembodiments, be done while installing the location tracking program 300on the computer 100.

Next, the location tracking program 300 monitors a data stream toidentify if an e-mail is being sent. Determining whether an e-mail isbeing sent may be performed by several methods. If the computer isrunning Microsoft® Windows®, then the Microsoft® Windows® Socketslanguage may be utilized intercept the data stream that is sent from ane-mail application program to a serial port. On the other hand, if acomputer is not running or is not capable of running Microsoft®Windows®, then conventional programming techniques may be used tomonitor the data present in memory location(s) that are assigned to aparticular data port. Thus, by monitoring the data stored in such datalocation(s) over time, it is possible to determine the data stream thatis being sent to a particular port. Regardless of the particular methodutilized to obtain the data stream, after the data stream is obtained,the stream may be parsed to determine if an SMTP header is present. Ifsuch a header is present, then an e-mail is being sent.

If an e-mail is identified in block 330, the header is parsed and thesender address is captured in block 340. The sender address is thencompared to the stored owner address in block 350. If the sender addressmatches the owner address, the e-mail is sent unimpeded in block 360. Ifthe sender address does not match the owner address, the sender addressis identified as a potential thief address and the e-mail is redirectedin Block 370. When the owner receives the e-mail, he may then contactthe service provider of the thief and obtain the name and address of thethief. Such information may then be provided to a law enforcement agencyso that the agency may retrieve the computer 100.

There are several ways to redirect the e-mail if a thief address hasbeen identified in various alternative embodiments of the method of FIG.3. In some embodiments, the SMTP header of the e-mail may be alteredbefore it is sent or the SMTP header may be copied into a buffer and anadditional redirected e-mail may be sent. Several illustrativeembodiments are listed below. These embodiments may be implementedindividually or several embodiments may be combined.

Description of the Second Embodiment

Rather than sending the e-mail to the recipient address at thedestination server 130, the e-mail may be routed to a redirected server140, shown in FIG. 1, for delivery to the true owner of the PC. Thelocation tracking program 300 in this embodiment modifies the e-mailSMTP header by substituting the owner address for the recipient address.Thus, the true owner of the computer 100 will receive the e-mail that issent by the thief. In this embodiment, the recipients would not receivethe e-mail, which may alert the thief to the presence of the monitoring.

Description of the Third Embodiment

In a third embodiment, the location tracking program 300 modifies thee-mail by appending the owner address to the list of recipientaddresses. In this embodiment, the recipients would know that the owneralso received the e-mail. The owner address would also be sent back tothe thief on any replies from the recipients, which may also alert thethief to the presence of the e-mail redirection.

Description of the Fourth Embodiment

In a fourth embodiment, the location tracking program 300 copies thee-mail, sends the original e-mail to the original recipient addresses,modifies the copy by deleting the original recipient addresses andsubstituting the owner address, and sends the copy to the owner. In thisembodiment neither the thief nor the recipients receive any indicationthat the e-mail was redirected.

Description of the Fifth Embodiment

In a fifth embodiment, the location tracking program 300 redirects thee-mail to a third party such as a law enforcement agency or a monitoringservice by deleting the original recipient addresses and substituting athird party address. This embodiment may be combined with any of theother embodiments to notify a third party, such as a law enforcementagency or monitoring service, that the computer may have been stolen.The third party may be notified in conjunction with or in lieu of theowner.

Description of the Sixth Embodiment

In a sixth embodiment, the message data of the redirected e-mail may bemodified as seen in block 380 of FIG. 3 before being sent in block 390,to give further information concerning the computer 100 or its location.For example, the computer serial number, owner telephone number, ownerhome or business address, owner e-mail address or other identifying datamay be included in the e-mail. An example of such a modification mayinclude the following text.

"This computer (Ser. No. # 13D456G1) may have been stolen This computerhas been registered to OWNER@MYSERVER.COM and mail was sent fromTHIEF@SERVER.COM".

In this particular embodiment, the serial number of the computer ande-mail addresses of the owner and thief were added to the e-mail. Thethief could be tracked by contacting the independent service providerthat the thief uses to send and receive e-mails

Description of the Seventh Embodiment

In another embodiment a positioning receiver 170 (shown in FIG. 1), suchas a global positioning system (GPS) receiver may be attached to orintegrated into the computer 100. A positioning receiver 170 may beespecially useful in a portable computer. The cost and size of GPSreceivers has been reduced to the point where it is now feasible toinclude such a receiver in a computer system. A positioning receiver 170installed on the computer 100 may be used by the location trackingprogram 300 to modify the message data to include the geographicalcoordinates of the stolen computer 100.

Description of the Eighth Embodiment

One particular embodiment of the invention may be used to help foilattempts by a thief to circumvent security measures after stealing thecomputer 100. For instance, to erase any type of security programpresent on the computer 100, a thief may reformat the hard disk drive.Thus, one embodiment of the invention stores the tracking program 300 ina program storage device separate from the hard disk drive. For example,the tracking program 300 may be conventionally stored in a PROM, EPROM,or EEPROM. Such storing would typically be performed by a computermanufacturer. In addition, the owner address may be stored in a sectionof a hard disk drive, such as the boot sector, that is not overwrittenduring a hard disk drive reformat operation. Alternatively, the owneraddress may be stored in CMOS memory such as the CMOS memory that storesthe computer's setup parameters. Thus, the program storage device 250 ofFIG. 2 may be a hard disk, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, CMOS memory, or anyother such suitable storage device that is known in the art.

Description of the Ninth Embodiment

In still another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the location trackingprogram 300 may be stored in a program storage device 400 within themodem 410. Many conventional modems contain PROM, EPROM, or EEPROMprogram storage devices that contain initialization code for the modem.Thus, the owner phone number could be stored in either a program storagedevice 400 within the modem 410 or a program storage device 250 withinthe computer 100 as discussed above.

Description of the Tenth Embodiment

In another embodiment, the owner address may be modified only if apredetermined password is provided. The initial password may be set by auser who installs the tracking program 300. Alternatively, the initialpassword may be set by the manufacturer of the computer if it installsthe location tracking program 300. The latter is advantageous since, ifthe computer 100 is "lost in shipping" from the computer manufacturer tothe computer owner, the manufacturer may be able to locate the "lost"computer 100.

Description of the Eleventh Embodiment

In still another embodiment, if the thief tried to circumvent thesecurity measures by removing power to the CMOS setup memory, thusresetting the CMOS setup values to their default values, a default owneraddress may be used. The default owner address may represent an addressof the computer manufacturer. The e-mail may be redirected to thedefault owner address. The message data sent to the default owneraddress may be modified to include identifying information such as theserial number of the computer 100 or registration number of the locationtracking program 300.

Combination of Embodiments

As discussed above and illustrated in FIG. 3, several of the embodimentsmay be combined. For instance, the e-mail may be redirected to theowner, a third party, or both. The redirection can occur by adding theowner address, third party address, or both to the list of recipients.Redirection can also occur by changing the recipient address to theowner address, third party address, or both. Some embodiments may notonly add additional addresses, but may also delete the originalrecipient address. Other embodiments may make a copy of the originale-mail and transmit the copy to the owner address, third party address,or both. Still other embodiments may include modifying the message datato provide additional information regarding the identity, location, orboth the identity and the location of the computer. One or more of thealternative embodiments discussed above may therefore be combined, andall such alternative embodiments are considered within the scope andspirit of the invention.

Remarks

The disclosed invention can be practiced in numerous differentembodiments to provide users with simple and efficient methods oflocating and retrieving stolen electronic devices such as portablecomputers. The methods do not require the expense of third partymonitoring services, and do not require that long distance calls beplaced by the computer. Thus, thieves will not be alerted to thepresence of the tracking program by long distance phone charges on theirphone bill.

Those skilled in the art will now see that certain modifications can bemade to the methods herein disclosed with respect to the illustratedembodiments, without departing from the spirit of the instant invention.And while the invention has been described above with respect to thepreferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention isadapted to numerous rearrangements, modifications, and alterations, andall such arrangements, modifications, and alterations are intended to bewithin the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electrical device, comprising:(i) a processoradapted to execute program instructions; and (ii) a program storagedevice containing program instructions that when executed:(a) monitoroutput data of an e-mail application program to detect that anelectronic message, referred to as an e-mail, is to be sent by theelectronic device from a sender address to a recipient address specifiedin the e-mail; (b) compare the sender address to a predetermined owneraddress; and (c) redirect the e-mail message in a specified manner ifthe sender address does not match the owner address.
 2. The electricaldevice of claim 1, wherein the program instructions to redirect thee-mail include program instructions that when executed:(c1) change therecipient address to the owner address; and (c2) send the e-mail to theowner address.
 3. The electrical device of claim 2, wherein the programinstructions to redirect the e-mail include program instructions that,when executed:(c3) send the e-mail to the recipient address.
 4. Theelectrical device of claim 1, wherein the program instructions toredirect the e-mail include program instructions that when executed:(c1)add the owner address as an additional recipient address; and (c2) sendthe e-mail to the recipient address and the additional recipientaddress.
 5. The electrical device of claim 1, wherein the programinstructions when executed:modify the e-mail to include an indicationthat the e-mail was redirected.
 6. The electrical device of claim 1,wherein the program instructions to detect that an e-mail is to be sentinclude program instructions that when executed:(a1) monitor a datastream transmitted by a modem to identify the e-mail being sent.
 7. Theelectrical device of claim 1, wherein the electrical device is a modem.8. The electrical device of claim 1, wherein the program instructions todetect that an e-mail is to be sent include program instructions thatwhen executed:(a1) monitor data sent through a data port to identify thee-mail being sent.
 9. The electrical device of claim 1, wherein theprogram instructions to redirect the e-mail include program instructionsthat when executed:(c1) copy the e-mail to generate a copied e-mail; and(c2) redirect the copied e-mail.
 10. The electrical device of claim 1,wherein the program instructions when executed:modify the e-mail toindicate the geographical position of the electronic device.
 11. Theelectrical device of claim 1, wherein the program instructions toredirect the e-mail include program instructions that when executed:(c1)change a recipient address to a third party address; and (c2) send thee-mail to the third party address.
 12. The electrical device of claim11, wherein the program instructions to change the recipient addressinclude program instructions that when executed:change the recipientaddress to the third party address, wherein the third party address isan e-mail address for a law enforcement agency.
 13. The electricaldevice of claim 1, further comprising:(iii) a setup memory, and (iv)wherein the program instructions when executed: store the owner addressin the setup memory of the electronic device.
 14. The electrical deviceof claim 13, wherein the program instructions when executed:update theowner address only when a predetermined password is provided.
 15. Theelectrical device of claim 13, wherein the program instructions whenexecuted:reset the owner address to a default address when the setupmemory is erased; and modify the e-mail to indicate an identifyingcharacteristic of the electronic device or the owner of the electronicdevice.
 16. The electrical device of claim 1, wherein the electricaldevice is a computer system.
 17. The electrical device of claim 1,wherein the electrical device is a computer system that is capable ofrunning Microsoft® Windows®.
 18. An electronic device containing (1) aprocessor, and (2) a program storage device containing programinstructions, executable by the processor, to cause the electronicdevice to perform operations comprising:(a) detecting that an electronicmessage, referred to as a sender's e-mail, is to be sent by theelectronic device to a recipient address associated with the e-mail; (b)comparing a sender address associated with the sender's e-mail to apredetermined owner address; and (c) if the sender address does notmatch the owner address, then sending an electronic message containingidentifying information about the electronic device, referred to as areporting e-mail, to (i) the owner address, and (ii) an address of amonitoring service.
 19. A program storage device encoded withinstructions that when executed perform a method comprising:(a)detecting that an e-mail is being sent from an electronic device bymonitoring the output data of an e-mail application program; (b)comparing a sender address to an owner address; and (c) redirecting thee-mail in a specified manner if the sender address does not match theowner address.
 20. A program storage device as in claim 19, wherein theact of redirecting in the method includes:(c1) changing a recipientaddress to the owner address; and (c2) sending the e-mail to the owneraddress.
 21. A program storage device as in claim 20, wherein the act ofredirecting in the method includes:sending the e-mail to the recipientaddress.
 22. A program storage device as in claim 19, wherein the act ofredirecting in the method includes:(c1) adding the owner address as anadditional recipient address; and (c2) sending the e-mail to a recipientaddress and the additional recipient address.
 23. A program storagedevice as in claim 19, the program storage device encoded withinstructions that when executed perform the method furthercomprising:modifying the e-mail to include an indication that the e-mailwas redirected.
 24. A program storage device as in claim 19, wherein theact of detecting in the method includes:monitoring a data streamtransmitted by a modem to identify the e-mail being sent.
 25. A programstorage device as in claim 19, wherein the act of detecting in themethod includes:monitoring data sent through a data port to identify thee-mail being sent.
 26. A program storage device as in claim 19, whereinthe act of redirecting in the method includes;copying the e-mail togenerate a copied e-mail; and redirecting the copied e-mail.
 27. Aprogram storage device as in claim 19, the program storage deviceencoded with instructions that when executed perform the method furthercomprising:modifying the e-mail to indicate the geographical position ofthe electronic device.
 28. A program storage device as in claim 19,wherein the act of redirecting in the method includes:changing arecipient address to a third party address; and sending the e-mail tothe third party address.
 29. A program storage device as in claim 28,wherein the act of changing in the method includes:changing therecipient address to the third party address, wherein the third partyaddress is an e-mail address for a law enforcement agency.
 30. A programstorage device as in claim 19, the program storage device encoded withinstructions that when executed perform the method furthercomprising:storing the owner address in a setup memory of an electronicdevice.
 31. A program storage device as in claim 30, the program storagedevice encoded with instructions that when executed perform the methodfurther comprising:updating the owner address only when a predeterminedpassword is provided.
 32. A program storage device as in claim 30, theprogram storage device encoded with instructions that when executedperform the method further comprising:resetting the owner address to adefault address when the setup memory is erased; and modifying thee-mail to indicate an identifying characteristic of the electronicdevice or the owner of the electronic device.
 33. An electronic devicecontaining (1) a processor, and (2) a program storage device containingprogram instructions, executable by the processor to cause theelectronic device to perform operations comprising:(a) detecting that anelectronic message, referred to as a sender's e-mail, is to be sent bythe electronic device to a recipient address associated with the e-mail;(b) comparing a sender address associated with the sender's e-mail to apredetermined owner address; and (c) if the sender address does notmatch the owner address, then sending an electronic message containingidentifying information about the electronic device, referred to as areporting e-mail, to at least one specified address.
 34. The electronicdevice of claim 33, wherein the program instructions further compriseinstructions to cause the electronic device to send the sender's e-nailto the sender address.
 35. The electronic device of claim 33, whereinthe reporting e-mail includes a copy of the sender's e-mail.
 36. Theelectronic device of claim 33, wherein the at least one specifiedaddress includes an address of a monitoring service.
 37. The electronicdevice of claim 33, wherein the at least one specified address includesthe owner address.